Leadership lip service
By Paul M. Weyrich
web posted November 14, 2005
In the post-Civil War Era, inspired by Abraham Lincoln and
Union victory, those Blacks who could overcome State
requirements aimed at preventing their voting usually voted
Republican. President Dwight D. Eisenhower overwhelmingly
was supported by Blacks when he ran for re-election in 1956.
Then came Senator John F. Kennedy (D-MA) in the 1960
Presidential race. Blacks switched and voted for JFK. They
helped him win that squeaker election against Vice President
Richard M. Nixon.
What happened? At the time I just had begun my broadcasting
career and was working at WLIP in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Working along side me on weekends was DJ Hal Mason. Since
I liked the sort of jazz he played on his show we became good
friends. I asked him why Blacks suddenly had abandoned the
Party of Lincoln and switched to the Democrats, whose policies
in the South, after all, were aimed at keeping Blacks in their
place.
Mason explained to me that Democrats worked the Black
Community hard. Democrats attended events all year long. They
showed up at Black churches, at picnics and at businesses where
Blacks were employed.
Republicans, he explained, rarely campaigned except perhaps
immediately prior to an election and then the Republican Party,
he said, showed no interest in the Black Community as such.
Mason's comments made a deep impression upon me. For years
after that I tried to interest Blacks in the conservative cause. The
word "conservative" itself was poison in the Black Community as
it was looked upon as rhyming with segregation.
President Nixon made an effort to reach the Black Community
through small business initiatives. I played a small role in that
effort. While it worked, the Democrats continued to get the
votes. I tried in various ways over the years, first working with
Black mayors, then later with supporters of Justice Clarence
Thomas, such as Phyllis Berry Meyers, to reach the Black
Community. Each effort did not produce a great deal, although
Meyers' initiative was the most productive. She taught me that to
attract Black Democrats we must work through the Church. We
didn't have the keys to doing so. Democrats continued to receive
the votes of Black citizens.
In the past election, in Ohio and various other locations across
the land, Blacks were reached through the Church on the
marriage issue. Indeed out of that has grown a working
arrangement with African American pastors and the Arlington
Group (the coalition of social issue conservative groups). Led by
the Reverend Bill Owens, of Tennessee, this effort is at last
bearing fruit. I had tried over the years to find the way that the
values we represent could be explained to leaders of the Church.
Finally, we have that key in Owens, the Reverend Keith Butler,
of Michigan, and many others.
Meanwhile, Kenneth B. Mehlman, now Republican Party
Chairman after having been campaign manager for the George
W. Bush 2004 Presidential Campaign, also shares my passion to
bring aboard the Black Community, in his case to the Republican
cause. For example, surveys show that the single most pro-life
sub-set among American voters is American males. Republicans
tend to be pro-life. Many Democrats are pro-abortion. Yet
these same Black males vote for Democrats. Why? Because
Democrats still show up at Black churches and functions in the
Black Community all year long. Republicans rarely are seen.
The Marriage Amendment to the Ohio Constitution drew an
unusually high turnout in the Black Community in Northern Ohio
and some Black voters had voted for President Bush because
Bush supported the Marriage Amendment and Senator John F.
Kerry (D-MA) opposed it.
So while Mehlman certainly understands what needs to be done,
Black leaders, such as Reverend Owens, tell me that
Republicans pay only lip service to them. "For us it is still the
back of the bus where the Republican Party is concerned."
Owens was shocked to find out that many conservatives feel the
same way about the Party. No wonder both conservatives and
Blacks get upset stomachs when they consider the GOP. In
Ohio, the Republican Party is in a shambles. Governor Robert
Taft has contributed to ruining the Party. Some surveys have
reported his popularity to be as low as 20%. Taft and his
scandals, as well as the behavior of Republican Senator Mike
DeWine, who is up for re-election in 2006, have enraged
conservatives.
Along comes Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell.
First elected for two terms as State Treasurer and then in 2002
Secretary of State, getting nearly 50% of the Black vote,
Blackwell stands apart from the scandals. He alone supported
the Marriage Amendment in Ohio, which received 500,000
more votes than did President George Bush for his re-election
bid. All other elected officials, such as Taft, DeWine and the
other Republican Senator, George V. Voinovich, opposed the
Marriage Amendment. Blackwell not only supported it, he
campaigned for it. And he also campaigned for tax limitation. He
has a commanding presence, is articulate and is the only hope for
Republican retention of the Ohio State House next year. So what
did the Party do? Did it embrace Blackwell to demonstrate that
Blacks are not given lip service but are welcomed by the Party?
No. The Republican Party recruited a candidate to run against
Blackwell. Many Ohio GOP leaders evidently would rather
control the wreckage than have the independent-minded
conservative Ken Blackwell as Governor.
Same thing in Michigan. Establishment Republicans had dropped
out of the Senate race against incumbent Democratic Senator
Debbie Stabenow. That left Reverend Keith Butler, the only
Republican elected to the Detroit City Council since the 1920s.
Over the years he has fed and clothed and housed thousands
upon thousands of the poor. So did the Republican Party
embrace Butler to demonstrate how in this new era Blacks are
part of the Republican Coalition? Not on your life.
Senator Elizabeth Hanford Dole, Chairman of the Republican
Senatorial Campaign Committee (RSCC), recruited a sheriff to
run against Butler. Moreover, she bragged about it as one of her
sterling accomplishments since her recruiting fell short in many
other States.
True Republicans are helping Lieutenant Governor Michael S.
Steele, who seeks the open Senate seat in Maryland, because he
has a strong Republican Governor who is backing him all the
way. When Dr. Alan L. Keyes twice ran in Maryland he
received little or no help from the Republican Party.
After all these years the Republicans finally have an opportunity
with Blackwell and Butler to show the Black Community that the
doors are wide open. Both candidates strongly articulate
conservative values. What is the problem? Granted Butler is an
underdog against Stabenow and thus far has low name
recognition. Blackwell actually is the front runner for the moment
and if the GOP Party machine doesn't destroy him he just might
be elected Governor. What a chance for the GOP to
demonstrate a welcome to Black conservatives. After observing
developments in Ohio and Michigan, one must conclude that
perhaps Reverend Owens is correct when Republican leadership
encouragement is mostly lip service.
Paul M. Weyrich is the Chairman and CEO of the Free
Congress Foundation.
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